Spartan Vacation:Seattle
by Medical Gunner
Summary: There are numerous problems with Spartans going on vacation. There are MORE issues with Emile driving (Jorge constantly has to pull the car out of a ditch) and Jun navigating (he can't even get the stupid GPS to CONNECT). In the latest chapter, Jorge literally pops out of a tux, and Rosenda's little black dress has more problems than one. . .
1. Spartans are huge, Civilians are small

**So here it is, the second, rewritten addiction* of Spartan Vacation! Thanks to all you guys that have followed and faved this story, I hope I can continue to make you laugh or at least think about smiling! Arigatou very much to Cmdr. Gen. Marasco for all your help!**

*** I was editing this and saw that typo. . .WHICH I AM SURE YOU ALL NOTICED. I laugh at my own mistakes. **

The red van slid, skidding across the snow and ice covered road and into the mountainside. Clumps of snow fell and thudded on the hood and ceiling of the van, denting the red vehicle. Emile swore, rolled down his window, and leaned out of it, trying to observe the damage. Shrugging, he sat back down, put the van in reverse, and laid on the gas. The wheels turned and whirred, but the car didn't budge. "Jorge. We're stuck. Again.", Emile called back to the larger Spartan, who was wedged in the very back of the van, among everyone's luggage. That was the only place he could fit.

Jorge sighed, thrust open the back door of the van, and climbed out for the third time. He braced his feet, digging into the ice with his heels. Before closing the back of the van, he said, "Carter, you're the best driver here, and I don't know why Kat isn't navigating." Kat and Carter both sighed simultaneously. They had been trying to avoid their leadership roles since they were on vacation, but it looked like that was just not going to happen.

Carter and Kat exited the van, walked up to the front doors, and threw them open. Carter jerked his thumb backwards, ordering, "Okay, you two, get in the back. Kat and I are taking over." Emile scowled, glaring at Carter, but he stepped out of the van. Before he loaded into the middle row of seats, he gave Carter the 'I'm watching you' sign for no particular reason.

With Carter behind the wheel and Kat operating the GPS, all of Noble could finally relax. Emile and Jun sat in the middle row of the van, their legs crowded behind the front seats. Thom and Rosenda sat in the back seats, watching the movie that was playing on the fold-down screen in the front—Soul Surfer, about a girl who lost her arm and was trying to get back into surfing. "I admire her perseverance.", was all Rosenda said about it.

Behind the van, Jorge shut the door, slamming it down a little harder than he meant to, making the whole car rattle. He grabbed the underside of the car, and pulled as hard as he could. With a sudden lurch, the van came unstuck, and Jorge rolled it back onto the road, letting go and leaving the rest to Carter, who turned and got the van facing in the right direction.

The engine revved and Carter tore down the road, leaving Jorge in the snowy dust thrown up by the wheels. Jorge swore, then cried, waving his hands in the air, "Commander! Where are you going?! I'm not in yet!"

He concentrated all his power and concentration on running and not falling. In the review mirror Carter saw Jorge racing towards the van, "He's gaining on us!"

"Lay on the speed, Commander!", Jun yelped fearfully.

"Petal to the metal, sir!", Emile yelled.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. We're never going to get to Seattle at this rate.", Carter sighed and slowed down the van, just enough that Jorge could catch up. He opened the back of the van, and climbed in, banging his head on the ceiling.

"Heh. Thought you were gonna leave me back there.", Jorge said good-naturedly, shifting the luggage around so he could fit better.

The GPS said, "Keep to the right. . ."

"Keep to the right. . ."

"Keep to the right. . ."

"Shut up, lady.", Carter snapped, taking the exit right.

~##~

"Are we there yet?", Jun moaned, carsick. In his hand he held a paper bag, feeling like vomiting every time Carter turned. "And I thought I was gonna die when _Emile_ was driving."

"Want to play cards?", Jorge offered, his shoulders sticking far above the back seat, "It will take your mind off it."

"How about a gun? And a bullet. Right here.", Jun poked himself between the eyes.

Jorge shrugged, "Guess I'll play solitaire."

Carter pulled up next to a pay station. For the last hour the trees had been disappearing, slowly being replaced with houses and stores. While the area they were in now was very urban, trees still dotted the city.

"Alright. . .I need a ferry ticket.", Carter spoke with the man in the pay station, and after getting his ticket he drove up and got into the line of cars for the ferry.

"It's about another hour across the water.", Kat told them, looking up from her data pad, "Hmmm. Several hundred years ago there was a ferry called the 'Walla Walla'. Its engines blew up."

"That instills confidence.", Thom piped up.

Dusk was falling, and LED lights came on, blinding the Spartans augmented eyes. "Augh! It's like an anti-Spartan weapon!", Jun cried.

After a few minutes, the Spartans followed the other cars, and parked in a line on the ferry. They were on the bottom deck, closest to the water. Across the water, glittering and beautiful, sat the city Seattle. A huge ferris wheel flashed with emerald green lights, and the patterns were reflected in the water, rippling and changing. Noble Team stood there, just watching the wheel's colors and patterns changed.

"Well, while you guys are out here staring at stuff like a crow at tin foil, I'm going inside.", Emile waved his hand in the air, turning away and walking up the thin stairs.

"Let's go then.", Carter led Noble to the same stairs, and they proceeded up, one at a time. Jorge came in last, and banged his head on the top of the door frame.

"Ouch." Jorge said calmly, rubbing his forehead. He tried to go through the door again, but he was to wide. Sighing, he turned sideways and proceeded up the stairs like a crab. When he finally got to the top, he nearly hit the ceiling with his head.

"JORGE!", Jorge turned in the direction of the voice, "JO~RGE! Come here, quick!" Thom yelled, frantically waving his hands in the motion that meant 'Come quick!'. Jorge went into action—zooming up to Thom, surveying the area. . .there didn't seem to be anything wrong.

Puzzled, Jorge looked down at the smaller Spartan, "What's wrong?"

"There's a snack bar!", Thom cried excitedly, "Come on! My future is coming on!", Thom rubbed his hands, grabbing a tray and stepping in line.

"Not hungry, L.T.?", Emile asked, sitting down on the bench next to Kat.

"No. Interesting. I've hacked the city's records. . .Looks like that wheel you like so much used to be called 'The Great Wheel'."

Emile munched on some chips, "That's stupid.", then, looking at a chip, "These things taste like everything I have ever eaten in an MRE prepared, mixed together, then freeze dried and salted."

Kat nodded, taking one for herself, "Without all the nutrients."

Carter sat down next to Kat, but there wasn't enough room for all the Spartans at the table, so Jorge, Rosenda and Thom sat at a table adjacent to them. Jorge's legs wouldn't fit under the table without it lifting up a foot, so he decided to go to the bow and look at the water.

Jun and Thom debated what was the best, least-nutritious civilian food they were eating, and Rosenda sipped a coffee.

On his side of the bow, Jorge was alone. There were two arms of the bow that people could stand on, the only connection the inside of the ship. Jorge walked back inside, and went through the other double doors (_Thank goodness I can fit—OUCH!_) to speak with whoever was on that side of the bow.

"Hullo.", Jorge leaned on the railing next to the girl. She was tall—for normal people. But Jorge towered over her, and she was startled that when she turned to see him where his face would normally have been was his abs.

"Uhm, hello.", she said nervously.

"You live here?", Jorge tried to start a conversation.

"Um, only for a little more than a year. But I've been here before."

"You like it here?"

"Yeah.", the girl answered. She looked older than she probably was, with hair cropped short around her head and strong legs.

"You must be cold.", Jorge motioned to her legs, she was wearing shorts.

"No, not really. I'm used to it. You?"

"Hm. It is even colder where I came from. I guess I'm used to it too.", Jorge smiled at her, scratching his beard.

"'Came from'? You don't live here then?", she asked.

"Nope. I came from the planet Reach.", Jorge answered woefully, somewhat homesick.

"Oh, that military planet. Um, what's your name, again?"

"Jorge.", Jorge introduced himself, "What about you?"

She seemed to hesitate, but after a moment she said, "Yume." Jorge grabbed her hand, gripping it too hard and shaking it a little quickly.

"Nice to meetcha. Why don't we go inside and get something to drink? We can talk a bit.", Jorge offered.

"Um, that's nice of you, but I can't afford to get anything.", Yume said shyly.

"Then I'll pay for you.", Jorge grabbed her shoulder and steered her towards the double doors that spilled light onto the deck.

~##~

Yume and Jorge sat at a table together, Jorge sitting sideways on the bench so he would fit. "You are really tall. . .", Yume observed. Not only that but he was incredibly muscular, even though his hair was graying.

Jorge nodded. "I'm a Spartan II." Jorge didn't see much wrong with sharing the information. This poor young girl that couldn't but her own drink couldn't even touch the tip of his nose if she stood on her toes. She wasn't that small—he was that _big_.

Yume scoffed, and replied, "Yeah, and Robert Downey Junior was a virgin." Jorge looked hurt, and as Yume got a better look at him—the scars, his muscles, his tired face—she decided it was possible. "Oh, really? Please don't kill anyone."

"Spartans don't kill their own."

"Sure. Sorry."

Jorge scratched his beard. "Do you know the city well, Yume?"

"Well enough. Actually, yes. I know it like the palm of my hand.", she answered seriously.

"Me and my team are here for a while for a—leave. We've never been here on earth, so what if we paid ya to lead us 'round a bit?", Jorge offered.

Yume pointed to herself, "Me? You sure?"

Jorge nodded, then stood and led her to the rest of Noble Team.

"You're all so. . ._big_."

**So what did you think? I am open to suggestions and criticism. **


	2. Spartans Can't Get Drunk

**Sorry it took me so long to update. The holidays have been killing me. I don't know how long this chapter will seem on the site, but it is FOUR PAGES LONG on open office. That's, like, four days of work. Just kidding. It didn't take that long. It took _five_. **

"Yeah. Wanna make somethin' of it?", Emile said to Yume, glaring as if she had threatened him.

"No. Uh, sorry.", she replied hastily, "I should be going now-"

"Where would you go?", Kat asked, "We're on a boat."

Jorge cleared his throat to keep his team from getting more off topic, "Yume here has volunteered to be our guide for our, er, _stay_ in _Seattle_. She'd go everywhere with us, and, of course, we would pay for food and board for her-"

Emile raised his hand, "I vote the kid sleeps outside!"

Jorge glared, then continued, "She says she knows the city well, as well as I know Reach-"

"Jorge.", Carter said, "She's a _teenager._"

"Your point?", Jorge asked.

"My _point_ is that you are entrusting our lives with a child."

"You didn't seem to have a problem trusting other children back in training, Commander. Why not trust one now?", Jorge replied, tightening his grip on Yume's shoulder painfully. She thought she heard a crack.

Noble Team seemed a little taken aback, and all of them were confused as to why Jorge so wanted the teen to be their guide—but he had had their back and saved them enough times to gain their trust, and they decided his judgment was as good as their Commander's.

"If you're up, we are, Jorge.", Carter said, leaning back in his seat.

Jorge nodded grimly, and was about to go back outside with Yume when a voice on the radio told them to get back in their car. They walked down the stairs again, Yume in front, thinking, "Please don't trip and fall on me, please don't trip and fall on me. . .", Jorge thinking, ". . .sideways. . .Gotta go through sideways. . .OUCH."

Noble squeezed between the cars, Jorge bumping into a truck so hard the car alarm went off, and finally got to their van.

"Okay, kid, you're between Thom and Rosenda, in the back." , Carter told Yume, jerking his thumb to Thom and Rosenda. Yume nodded, then sat in the middle. Both Thom and Rosenda were pressed up against her, and Yume wondered if she would be able to escape the car if she needed to. The answer was no.

"So where should we go first?", Carter asked, looking at Yume in the review mirror.

"Why not go to the ferris wheel first, I guess, then we can eat.", Yume suggested.

"If we are loading onto that hamster ball we saw across the water, I will not be followin' you around anymore.", Emile turned around in his seat and glared.

"Uh, sorry?", Yume shrugged apologetically, "Uh, you need instructions?" She asked Carter nervously.

"Nope.", Kat replied, "I have got it under control." She plugged in the location in the GPS, and everyone moaned. They had had to listen to the thing chatter for the hour and a half that Kat had been navigating. Thom had begged Jun to take over again.

In less than five minutes they were unloading out of the van, and walking down the pier to the ticket booth. The ferris wheel towered over them, the line wasn't long for the tickets, though, and Noble stepped right in.

"So what happens when the big man steps in? Will he break it?", Emile asked, gazing up at the ferris wheel.

"No. People bigger than him have gotten on there and it hasn't broken.", Yume replied.

Everyone stared at Yume, "_There are people bigger than Jorge?!_", they all exclaimed.

"Well. . .not in muscle. But, y'know, _overweight_ people.", Yume answered. The Spartans all made 'Oooh' expressions, and Carter bought their tickets.

"So why the he** do we have to stand in line _twice_?!", Emile cried angrily, desperately trying to avoid touching the many civilian women around him. He didn't want their flowery perfume rubbing off on him.

"There are normally bigger crowds, during the day. It's a way for them to keep the crowds under control and organized.", Yume explained, standing under one of the umbrella shaped heaters that stood every few feet along the line.

"Are civilians really that un-disciplined?", Thom asked, his brow furrowed.

"They are often compared to cattle when there is a sale or other attraction.", Yume answered, joking. The comment earned her a smirk from Emile, quickly changed to a scowl.

"Yes. Yes. YES!", Jun exclaimed, as they were at the front of the line.

"How many?", asked a bored looking teenager in a blue and black uniform.

"Eight.", Carter held up eight fingers.

The teen broke the Spartans up into two groups, and they settled in two different cars. "What _is_ this?", Jun asked, pressing his hands against the tinted glass walls of the ferris wheel car, "Are they going to gas us?" The wheel started to turn, and Jun fell back into Yume's lap.

"Please. Get. Off. _Now_.", she said, trying to breath.

"Okay.", Jun said quickly, getting up and sitting back down next to Emile. Emile had his arms crossed, his lower lip out, pouting.

As the wheel rotated, the Space Needle peaked out from behind a skyscraper. Jun tensed up, pointing, "It's a Covie Spire! We gotta take it out! Jorge, use your telepathy!"

Jorge looked at Jun wearily. Emile said, "You'll have to forgive him. He's mentally unstable."

Yume nodded slowly, then explained, "That's the Space Needle. Depending on how much money you have, we can eat there."

Jun nodded, stroking his beardless chin, "Yes. Yesss. Excellent sniping position." Yume rubbed her temples.

In the other car: Rosenda, Thom, Carter and Kat decided that it was a great view. "It's nice to be up high but not shooting at something.", Thom said. The rest nodded in agreement.

"So, how do you think that kid's doing over there with Skullface and Snipey. Either one might break down and kill her.", Kat asked.

"She'll live, as long as she sticks with Jorge. If she gets caught in a room alone with Emile and makes any sudden movements, she's screwed.", Rosenda crossed her arms, her face serious. She did not want non-Covenant blood on her hands, but she knew Emile just liked the color.

Back to Jorge and Friends: An ominous creaking was sounding from above them. The very metal of the ferris wheel. "Uh, hate to be rude, but how much do you all weigh?", Yume asked as the car swung a _little_ to far forward.

"Well, Big Man _only_ weighs 193 kilos (430 lbs).", Emile claimed.

"Yeah. Only. That shouldn't be enough to screw this up, though. . .", Yume said, "Wait, how much do _you _weigh?", she asked Jun and Emile.

"Ehhh. . .about 106 kilos (235 lbs) each.", Jun answered, "How much do _you_ weigh?"

"About 55 kilos (120 lbs).", Yume answered without hesitating, breaking the popular teen-girl-hides-her-weight stereotype.

"Lightweight."

"And that would be enough to break this?" Jun asked nervously.

"Possibly."

But the ride was slowing, and they came to rest at the bottom, Jorge exited first, smacking his head right into the top of the door. Yume winced—that had to hurt. She was suddenly glad she wasn't so tall.

"All right, let's eat!", Thom cried. His stomach growled. "Something other than MREs!"

"Wanna got to the Crab Pot? It's kinda pricey, but you can try it."

"Is there a lot?", Jun asked, "Of food?"

"Yeah."

"Is there beer?"

"Most likely."

"Then we'll go.", Jun proclaimed, picking Yume up easily and swinging her over his shoulder.

~##~

The Crab Pot was dark, crowded, and noisy. It would have been confusing for most people, but it was downright uncomfortable for the asocial Spartans.

The waitress seated them at a long table, with a red checkered table cloth. In the squares were little red crabs. As Jorge sat down, his wooden chair creaked ominously. It was much to small for him, and his feet stuck out from under the other side of the table. Yume suppressed a laugh.

"It's cold in here.", Jun whined, "I'm glad we're inside, and not by the water."

"What can I get ya?", a teen waitress asked, chewing gum with her mouth open.

"Eight beers!", Jun exclaimed.

"Seven beers.", Yume corrected.

The waitress irritatedly scratched out the first order, fixing it. "And to eat?"

The Spartans looked at Yume expectantly, so she just ordered for them, "Ten or twelve servings of the crab pot..." The waitress scribbled it down, then flounced off.

In a few minutes, the Spartans received big glasses of amber alcohol. "Sure ya don't want some?", Thom offered.

"I can't, I'm underage."

"Oh, right. I forgot that normal people don't handle alcohol well."

"No, we don't, especially when we aren't even done growing yet."

~##~  
Five waiters walked around their table. "Sh**.", Emile swore, "We're surrounded-"

"No, they're bringing your food.", Yume explained, as they dumped ten bowls filled with potatoes, crab parts, shrimp, corn, clams and oysters into a giant heap on the table. The waiters laid white plastic bibs that smelled strongly of—plastic.

"Eww. Do we have to wear these?", Jun complained, holding the bib at arms length.

"Yeah, what are we, babies?", Emile growled.

"If you don't wear them you'll get grease all over you, trust me.", Yume tied her bib around her neck.

"_Fine_."

The Spartans hammered at crab legs (the head of Jorge's broke when he hit too hard), gnawed on corn on the cob (Emile accidentally bit part of the cob off), and Rosenda and Kat having a drinking contest.

"It's a good thing you're over age, Kat, or we couldn't do this.", Rosenda laughed, the five glasses of beer not even affecting her.

"Yeah, one year less and I would've had to lie!"

"Ahahaha. . .Not that it would hurt to do that. As soon as we were augmented we could drink as much as we wanted!"

All the Spartans were laughing, but Yume remained silent at her end of the table. It just reminded her that she wasn't part of the group, and that she never would be part of this one. She wasn't a Spartan, and could never relate to their experiences fighting the Covenant. She sighed, tearing a mussel out of its shell.

The huge pile of food disappeared, and Noble wiped their hands on the useless little towelettes.

"You can go wash your hands in the bathroom.", Yume pointed the restrooms out to Emile, who was cussing at his greasy hands.

"F*** YOU!", Emile exclaimed, his hand slipping on his doorknob.

~##~

"So where are you guys staying tonight?", Yume yawned in the back of the van.

Kat furrowed her brow, "What do you mean?"

"You don't have a hotel?"

Kat shook her head.

"Okay. Let's just drive around for a bit and see if there are any vacancies."

It became a sort of game, spotting hotel signs, getting really excited for a bed. But ever single sign said, 'No Vacancies'.

"Da**", Carter swore, rubbing his eyes.

"Eyes on the road, Commander.", Emile japed. The clock in the front of the van read 2 A.M., and even the Spartans were getting drowsy.

"Why don't we spend the night in the car?", Thom suggested from the back. "All in favor say 'ay-"

"AYE!", he was interrupted by a chorus of enthusiastic ayes.

Carter stopped in a parking lot, and paid the parking bill for overnight parking.

Thom stretched out over the backseat, but he hung over the side. "Hm. Yume, you wanna sleep up here?"

Yume nodded, then they switched places: Thom stretched down the middle of the van, Emile and Jun leaned their seats back all the way, pressing into Yume's legs (but she didn't mind). Carter and Kat did the same thing ("Kaaaaaaaaat, I don't have enough leg room!")

"Rose, why don't you sleep in the back here?", Jorge offered his spot among the luggage.

"Where will you sleep, Jorge?"

"Under the van. I've done it before."

Jorge climbed out of the back, and the van rocked a little as he squirmed down under it. Yume covered herself in her jacket and fell asleep immediately, briefly thinking, "I really hope they're not dangerous. . ."

~##~

Sometime in the night, Yume got very cold. The car was off, leaving the group to their own body heat. It wasn't enough, though, as she was shivering under her jacket. Half awake, she crawled off the seat, and laid, half next to and half on, the nearest heat source.

That would be Thom. She rested her head on his shoulder, worming her way next to him, then fell asleep, warm and comfortable.

~##~

Something was pushing at him, edging into his space. It pulled at him a little, then settled next to him, still and breathing deeply.

It was too small to be a Spartan, to tall to be a Grunt, and didn't stink like Covenant, anyway. Thom opened one eye, his body tense but making it seem like he was still asleep. Yume's short hair and sleeping face came into view. He shrugged, not minding it. Besides, he had been cold, before she decided to share her heat.

The midday heat was magnified by the van's windows and leathery seats. Thom was just starting to get uncomfortably hot, and Yume stirred next to him. "Oh, my lo-!", Yume started, seeing she was laying _very_ close to Thom.

"Howdy.", Thom sat up, and she put as much distance between herself and the Spartan as possible.

_**"Can you feel the love tonight?"**_


	3. Emile Stole A Manikin

**So we all know how last time my excuse for not updating sooner was the holidays, right? Well this time it's the post-holidays, and school, and playing with my new hacking toys. . .I am almost into ONI's network. . .and then I can reveal everything about Jorge to his masses of fan girls! Weeee! **

**This chapter isn't as funny as the others, and I await the virtual bricks through the reviews and my PM box. Just shut up and read. And don't forget how 'tired I am from school' or whatever. And be nice to me. **

"So where are we headed to today?", Carter asked as the other Spartans rose, and the van rocked as Jorge (apparently) woke up, and slid out from under the van.

Yume shrugged, still a little bothered by what had happened the night before. In grade school, she had been known to bully the other kids around at sleep overs, snuggling up against them for no apparent reason. She thought that now she was in high school, she had grown out of it, but. . .

She froze. A thought had just occurred to her. If she was still doing that in her sleep, then all those nights she spent with marines in the glassing. . .had she been doing it then, too?!

"Hey. Heeeeey." Emile knocked her on the head with his fist. "You there, kid. Wake up."

She gave him a sharp look. "Why not _book a hotel_ before we do anything."

Kat nodded and Thom winked at her, as if he knew exactly what she was trying to avoid. The rear door opened and Jorge climbed in, shifting the luggage and sitting down.

"What did I miss?", he asked cheerfully. Yume gave Thom a look that dared him to speak.

~##~

"How did you get the _Mayflower_?!", Yume exclaimed. The Mayflower was an extremely old and popular hotel in Seattle. The shopping center, Westlake Center was right next to it, as was Macy's, a mammoth cloths store, its building disappearing into the clouds.

Kat winked, and shrugged coyly. As Carter pulled up in front of the hotel, a man in a uniform walked up to the car. He held his hand out for the keys, and waited for Carter to get out as another man walked round to the back of the van to get the luggage.

Emile glared at the little man requesting the keys. "And why should we trust you?"

The little man sputtered nervously, "B-because this is my job!"

"Oh, okay.", Emile sighed, stepping out of the van, and Carter handed the man his keys. The man trying to get the luggage had his hand on the handle, and was just about to open the back when Jorge decided he wanted out.

The smaller man was flung back into the car behind them as Jorge swung the back door upward. "Sorry, didn't see there." Jorge chuckled as he picked the man up under his armpits and set him on his feet.

"Quite alright sir" The man tried to lift one of the suitcases in the back, but his face turned beet red in his struggle. Sweat drenched his uniform. "Urgh!"

"Don't worry about it. I'll get it." Jorge grabbed a suitcase and strapped it across his back with a belt.

"Are you sure-"

"Quite sure." He replied, carrying two suitcases under each arm. "Can you get your bag, Yume? I seem to be out of hands."

Yume nodded, swinging her backpack over her shoulder and her medic bag over her head. She silently wondered how exactly Jorge was going to fit through the front door easily. Of course, he stuck in the door and banged his head on the door frame.

Kat walked to the granite front desk and checked them into two rooms. She flounced back over to them, proud as a cat that had just killed a mouse. "Up, up, up we go." She chanted, gesturing to the elevators.

"Jorge should go on his own. He might exceed the weight limit.", Emile japed. Jorge dropped a suitcase on Emile's shoulders.

"UGH. He might. . .even without the luggage." Emile moaned, barely able to lift the suitcase with one arm. "Who put bricks in their suitcase?"

"I'm sorry!" Jun exclaimed as if he had been holding in a secret for a long time. "I just had to have her! Who knows what would have happened to Snipy if I left her at base?!" Yume tried to suppress a laugh, but failed and had to turn away.

Noble sighed, and in an attempt to break the awkward silence, Jorge cleared his throat, "So, what floor are we on, Kat?"

"Thirteen.", she replied. With that Jorge maneuvered into the elevator, bumping Jun's shoulder on the way, in a reassuring gesture that Spartans used. Jun swiped two fingers over where his name would normally be if he was in armor in a 'Spartan Smile'.

The rest of Noble followed on pairs, and Yume rode upwards with Emile and Jun, the two most unstable if the team. _If I was religious, I would be praying right now_, she thought to herself, wondering how much danger she actually was in. It was a small, tight space. There was not a lot of chance she would live if she made the wrong move. . .

~##~

"I wanna die. I am so tired." Jun whined, collapsing onto the bed, his sniper rifle in one hand.

"Get that thing off the bed!" Emile snapped at him, waving at his sniper rifle.

Jun jumped up. "Snipy is not a thing! She is a companion. Which is more than you are!"

Emile was just about to make a snappy comeback when Carter walked in from the girls' room. " Lock it down, you two. We're going shopping."

Jorge, Thom, Emile and Jun gazed at Carter dumbly, frozen.

"Shopping?"

Carer nodded grimly. "Yeah. Clothes shopping."

~##~

"It is huge." Rosenda whispered breathlessly, looking up at the tall Macy's skyscraper.

Yume nodded, kid of bored. She hated this store. She hated clothes shopping. She hated trying things on. And she felt like she should apologize to the guys of the group for bringing them there.

Kat and Rosenda walked in, leaving the rest in the dust. "You ready?" Jun gulped.

The rest of the men nodded.

"Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" Thom pumped his fist in the air.

The group of Spartans strode through the doors, Yume trailing, out of place, behind them.

"Soooo, what do we do first?" Thom clapped his hands as they stood just inside the store. "Kilts or cosplay?"

"I doubt they have either of those here." Yume scoffed, looking bored, but slightly surprised Thom knew about cosplay.

"Do they have any Mark VI s? I do need a new suit." Jorge looked around as if he expected to see a sign that read "SPARTANS COME HERE" in flashing letters.

"No. Let me tell you something: Macy's is a stereotyping, clothing-selling juggernaut. They sell stuff for the people they want to represent them." Yume explained.

The male Spartans glared at her, sizing her up, as if to fight her. "Are you a 'normal person they want to represent them'?"

Yume shook her head, "By no means. And neither are you."

Thom spun on his heel, pointed forward, and proclaimed, "To the women's section!" Emile smirked, Jun kind of smiled awkwardly, and Carter sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Let them enjoy themselves, Commander." Jorge advised. "When and where else will they et to do this?"

"I just hope they don't get it in their heads that it will be like this when we get home. They're Spartans. They don't belong here." Carter scowled. He wished he was with Kat.

"Even Spartans are human, sir. And so are you." Jorge tapped Carter on his shoulder, and then loped forward, following the three preceding them.

_ Elsewhere in the store. . ._

"Kat! How does this look?" Rosenda posed in a skin-tight dress. It was quite the opposite of the cloudy-gray drab they always had to wear on base—even off duty.

"Great." Kat purred, sporting a blue slip that barely hit her knees, the same color as her armor.

Rosenda frowned. "Little tight, though. What do you think Holland would do if I showed up at briefing in it?"

"That's about the only 'formal occasion' we get." Kat pulled the slip off.

"I dunno. We just might get invited over for dinner one night, or maybe a wedding. . ."

"Yeah, and maybe we'll get married and have kids!" Rosenda laughed and pulled the dress of, flinging it onto the bench.

"Hmm." She studied herself in the mirror. Her dark tan, scars, and defined muscles made her stand out, but even so, unless some one knew her, there was no way to tell she was a Spartan.

"Okay, I have to take something home with me. This or this? I don't know. They both look good." Rosenda held a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and a pleated skirt in front of her.

"Well, I don't know, either." Kat bit her lip. "What's that thing that the Headhunters say. . .? Some way of deciding things. . ."

Rosenda thought for a moment. "When in doubt, blow shit up?"

~##~

"Geez!" Jun covered his eyes with his hands. "Put a shirt on, lady!" His reaction was due to a manikin displaying underwear.

"Yes. Yes. I have wanted to do this to someone with no reaction forever!" Emile walked up to another female manikin, and grabbed her chest. He frowned, "This lacks. . .reaction." He dropped his arms to his sides. Then a determined expression came over his face, and he lifted the manikin clear off its stand. "I'll take this, please." he laid it down next to the nearest cashier.

"That's not for sale, sir."

"It is if I _want_ it to be." Emile scowled at the small woman, grabbing the manikin's hand.

"Then it's yours. Keep it. On the house." The woman ushered him away, the manikin under his arm.

Jorge walked down an isle of sweaters, looking bored. His walked smack into one of the hanging cardboard pictures, tearing it from the ceiling. The picture was a nice scene of a woman in the snow. It triggered some kind of memory in him, some stirring of warmth. . .

"Hey, Jorge!" Thom walked up behind him. "We're getting' outa here! They called security on Emile!"

Sure enough, several poorly trained guards jogged over to where Emile had picked up the manikin.

"C'mon. Carter and the rest are meeting us outside!"

"What about Kat and Rose?" Jorge puzzled, the picture still under his arm.

"They'll be fine. They're still pretending we don't exist."

_In the shoe section. . ._

"Do civilian women _always_ where these?" Kat staggered in a pair of high heeled boots.

"Yeah." Yume answered, having left the guys as soon as Emile picked up the manikin. There was no way she was going to get caught in the cross hairs of _that_ battle.

"Girls are dumb." Rosenda grabbed onto a table displaying shoes to keep from falling over, a pair of obnoxiously bright staccato heels on her feet.

"Some of them. You don't see me in heels." Yume shrugged.

"No, I see you are wearing the good ol' combat boots." Kat unzipped her boots.

"Let's get going." Rosenda packed the heels back into their box.

"Not getting anything?" Yume inquired.

"I decided that if I couldn't decide on one thing, I might as well get nothing." She shrugged, straightening up. Yume was ashamed at how short she really was compared to Rosenda. . .and all the others. They could all pick her up off the ground and _throw her_.

"That's the opposite of most peoples' thinking. . ." Yume chuckled, following the two taller women out of the store. . ._in their shadows._

**__Was it as bad as I said? Did you hate it? Well, I have been trying to study but Jun stinks at math and Carter is less than a whiz at chemistry, not to mention ALL OF NOBLE doesn't know a thing about US history. I'd just say screw it and ignore them, but Kat keeps using my computer to hack things. . .the other day I had ONI at my front step with a SWAT team and a search warrant. And Jorge keeps sitting where I can talk to him so we ended up playing cards, and I lost all my cash. Note to self: Never play Stripper with Jorge. . .Please review this. **


	4. The Guy (didn't) Steal Emile's Knife!

"Now what?" Yume crossed her arms in frustration. Jun had been poking at her for the last several minutes, measuring her up against himself and the other Spartans. He was just about to pull her over next to Jorge when she asked him just what he was doing.

"Trying to see how tall you are exactly. You're just a little taller than the tallest Grunt." He looked at her critically. All she did was glare and turn back to her phone, where she was looking up locations they could visit to fill the rest of the day.

"You look almost as pissed off as me." Emile snarked at her. Yume rolled her eyes.

"You guys hungry?" She asked. "Let's go to Westlake Center. It's right by our hotel, and there are lots of stores so I 'm sure you can all find somethin' to do."

Noble Team shrugged, and Yume flagged a taxi, her the Spartans following her trustingly. . _.or so she thought._

"It's a good thing this is a van." Emile glanced back at Jorge, who was climbing in the back again, like on their trip there. The driver looked, stunned, into his review mirror at the seven giant (and one normal sized) people getting into his cab.

"What is this, a diversity meeting?" He said under his breath, taking in the Spartans (and Yume) in awe. Remembering himself, "Where to?"

"Westlake Center, the mall." Yume answered from the back seat, once again between Thom and Rosenda. Carter sat up front with the driver in case one of the more unstable of Noble decide the driver looked suspiciously like an Elite and killed him with a kukri. . .not naming any names.

Once again Emile and Jun sat in the middle, and Kat stooped on the floor, being out of room. It seemed that every time they rode in a car they always had the same seats, and Yume wondered if that was because of rank or simply out of habit.

The cab wove through the city streets, jerking to stops at traffic lights and honking angrily whenever someone got in his way. In a few minutes they were outside of the mall, and Carter was handing over the cash payment. Yume wondered if he had ridden in a cab before, the action was quite natural and he did it unprompted. _Maybe he just. . .figured it out. _She thought.

They all practically _spilled_ out of the cab, they were so crammed in. After a couple stretches, the team strode forward into-

_The mall. _

_~##~_

"So, what is this exactly?" Jun wondered aloud. He and a very uncomfortable Yume stood in front of a crepe booth on the top floor of the mall, called "Galacticrepes"

"They're. . .It's like. . ." Yume struggled to explain them to the Spartan. "They're. . .it's like desert and fruit wrapped in a pancake." She snapped her fingers, sure that would explain them to the Spartan.

"Can I try some?" He turned and looked down at her.

Not entirely sure why he was asking permission, "Uhhh, yeah."

In a few minutes the teenage "chefs" had whipped him up a choco-banana crepe, and he was tasting it tentatively, like it might be poison. "Close to perfect, but not quite _perfect_." He commented, licking his lips. "Are there any other unusual-but-tasty things we can get here?"

Yume nodded, "If you want unusual, come down to the Japanese store they have down on the first floor! They have all sorts of weird stuff there!" For the first time, Yume was starting to see the mentally unstable Spartan's personality come out, and to be truthful, she was unnerved by it.

They rode the escalator down to the first floor, and as Yume stepped off a large man rushed past them. Jun just stepped aside, but the man ran into Yume and she fell the rest of the way down the escalator. Jun walked the rest of the way down, and set her on her feet.

"How'd you survive so long with such sloppy habits?!" He exclaimed, brushing her off in an oddly familiar gesture.

Apparently remembering himself, he straightened, cleared his throat and asked, "So where's this shop you're so eager to show me." As if he had not wanted to go at all, but was in a hurry to get somewhere else.

"Here." She started toward a small shop with glass fronted windows displaying odd candies and statues. Jun followed Yume in, taking all of it in—the tiny, food shaped toys, the big-eyes dolls in glamorized sailor uniforms, and, most notably, the number of Asians shopping in the store.

"They're so. . .small." He commented, sticking close to Yume as if the short women were going to attack him.

"Uh, yeah." Yume muttered to him, glaring at a package of Pocky-imitations called 'Lucky Sticks'. Shrugging, she threw it in the basket. "I'll buy some snacks and we can eat them tonight."

"Okay." Jun examined a pickle cell phone charm. "Can you read these squiggles?" He picked up a box covered in kana characters, and pointed at the lines of text.

"They're not squiggles. It's Japanese."

"Looks like the Covenant symbols."

"Don't let the Japanese hear that." Yume chuckled. "It says something like, 'A marvelous clock that will wake you before the sun. . ."

"Sounds awful." Jun dropped the clock back into the bin, holding his hands in the air.

With a few bags of snacks and drinks cutting off the blood flow though her arms, Yume finally made it out of the store with Jun. After the first thirty minutes, she had gotten tired of Jun's "What's this? What does this say? How do we use this?" He was unusually chatty, which didn't fit her view of him as a crazy, asocial Spartan who was out to kill her.

"Let's go find the rest of the team." Yume climbed onto the escalator, Jun behind her.

"Don't fall again."

She laughed, "I won't."

~##~

Kat and Carter were like kids in a candy shop. Well, the candy shop. They hadn't been like normal kids for a long, long time, but they felt a little different that day in the mall. Safe, _and_ happy. That didn't happen a lot. It was one or the other.

The shop was tiny, the two Spartans dominated the two skinny isles in the shop. Its walls were completely made off glass, but were lined all the way to the ceiling with bowls of different candies—brightly colored gummies, shaped like cartoon characters from a popular show they'd never heard of, and numerous fruits and nuts covered in chocolate.

"Let's sample this one, next, Commander." Kat pointed to a container with chocolate covered raisins, a little to high for her to reach. "Can you help me get it, Carter?"

Carter sighed, and came up next to his second-in-command. He knew what she wanted—to be close to him. Which is why she kept asking him to either lift her up so she could reach something that she could reach if she stood on her toes, or for him to just touch her as he reached up.

He dug around in the bowl, coming down with a hand full of raisins. He opened his fist, sure that was not the way they were supposed to be 'sampling' things, and Kat took half. The bigger half, of course.

Carter popped the rest of the raisins in his mouth, wiping his chocolate covered hands on his pants.

"Let's move on, Kat."

"Yeah, the clerk is giving you the stink eye." Kat glanced at him coyly, "Not unlike you do to us."

"I do not!" Carter exclaimed, in a useless attempt to keep Kat from teasing him.

~##~

Rosenda sighed, lonely. The entire team had split up into their own little groups, but Rose wasn't as close to the others as the rest. She was a replacement, a substitute. It was rare she ever saw action with the rest of Noble.

Scraping her feet on the floor, she wandered into a chocolate shop. The interior was dark, with fake wood panels on the walls and wine bottles decorating every other empty surface.

_There's no way that ten pieces of chocolate cost _thirty _dollars, _Rose thought, picking up the 'sample' pack.

Rosenda knew there was a problem with the fact that she felt constantly alienated, like she didn't belong with the rest of the team. She knew that they trusted her with their lives. But why did she feel so depressed?

A large package of chocolates skidded on the counter as she threw it there. "I'll take this." She said to the clerk. She had to cheer herself up somehow, and eating hundred-dollar chocolates was one way to do it.

"Your total is $110.98. . ."

Suddenly, Rosenda was pretty sure that the chocolates weren't going to cheer her up after that.

~##~

"Ahhh. . ." Emile stretched his arms upward. "I'm beat."

"Too much social interaction?" Thom sniped, grinning.

Emile snapped his head to the side, giving Thom the death-glare that didn't faze his teammates but scared the s*** out of most everybody else.

"Is there anything entertaining here?" Emile grumbled, then suddenly he turned to the side, and veered way off course.

"Hey! Emile, where are you goin'?!" Thom exclaimed, trailing after his friend. "Let's hope someone didn't look at him wrong. I don't want to deliver a casualty report to the Commander today. . ."

Emile had his nose pushed flat against the surface of a glass case, which held many long, sharp knives. He giggled. Pressing his finger against the glass, he called at Thom, happier than he had ever been known to be, "Thom. Thom. Look. It's my kukri."

"So it is." Thom observed the knife that was making his friend act like he was high. It appeared to be exactly the same as Emile's precious kukri. . .And suddenly Thom knew why Emile was acting so giddy. "Emile, I'm sure it's not really your exact knif-"

Too late. Emile had grabbed the front of the clerk's shirt, and dragged him across the counter towards him. "So where'd ya get that knife, eh, comrade?" He growled, dangerously close to the clerk's face.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I ordered it f-f-f-f-f-f-from Reach." The chubby little clerk stammered. For working in a gun and knife shop, he had an extremely weak constitution, and he was as scared as a mouse.

"From reach, eh?" Emile cracked his neck. "How about from my belt. . .You're gonna die." He spit the last phrase with particular vehemence, and the clerk whimpered.

Thom swore, and flipped open the cell phone the whole team had gotten so they could communicate. ("You have to dial a whole number just to talk to somebody!? I miss the radios."-Jun) His fingers fumbled over the keys, and after a few typos and a new shiner for the clerk, he managed Jorge's number.

"Jorge! We need you up at—Mousy's Gun and Blade shop at the top floor. Emile's cracking up."

Jorge replied wearily, "About 'is knife again? He loves that thing almost as much as Jun loves his sniper rifle. . ."

In less than five minutes Jorge had run up the escalators, sometimes the ones running downward, picking up civilians and placing them to the side, or carrying up two at a time to the floor they were trying to get to. He spotted the store, and skidded to a stop just next to Emile.

There was no time to talk. The clerk's eyes were already swollen shut, and teeth littered the floor. The shop was utterly empty of other customers, having fled before they lost their eyes and, possibly, their extremities. Emile's eyes were filled with the venom that fueled him to kill Covenant, and it was misplaced.

Jorge landed a blow on top of the arm Emile was holding the clerk with. The chubby man fell behind the counter, and curled into a ball and whimpered. Emile turned, growling, at Jorge, then lunged, aiming a punch at his chest. Jorge deflected it with a swipe of his arm, then he kneed Emile in the stomach. As Emile crumpled into a heap, Jorge brought his elbow down onto the back of his head, and the vicious lion Emile had been turned into a sleeping kitten.

A sleeping kitten that was sure to be ticked off when he woke up.

~##~

The group bought several pizzas for dinner that night, and walked back to their hotel. Walking out of the mall, around the block, and into the lobby with Emile on his back got the group some fairly odd looks, more so than normal. Normally, people just looked at Jorge as giant. _Now,_ they saw him as a giant carrying another, sleeping giant.

_Like a father carrying his son. . ._

All the way up to the room in the elevator, and into the room, Emile slept, and Yume tried really, _really_ hard not to laugh as he cooed in his sleep. He was probably cooing about something horrible and explicit, but he was still _cooing._

Jorge laid him down, spread-eagled, on the floor. The rest of them sat around in the guys' room, eating pizza ("This tastes like _melted _MREs!"), and laughing as people hurt themselves on Eridanus's Funniest Home Videos.

"That's guy's an idiot!" Thom exclaimed, practically rolling around on the bed in laughter. Tears streamed down his face.

"Hey." Jun suddenly sat straight up off the bed he had been "sleeping" on. "Yume, do you have those snacks form earlier?"

"Hwha-? Oh yeah. . .they're over here." She rubbed her eyes and stumbled over to the table, dug around in the pile of bags, and pulled out two bags of snacks.  
"If I eat these, will I get more lucky shots?" Jun asked as he opened a box of Lucky Sticks.

"Nope." Yume blinked slowly. She was exhausted, but she didn't want to fall asleep right there in front of the Spartans. Especially not when they were all riled up—who knew what they were capable of.

"Will these give me pimples?" Kat asked, eating a stick of Pocky. "I don't wanna wake up with a pocky face."

The team laughed, and the night was filled with six laughing voices. Yes, six, Emile was probably suffering head trauma and Yume had passed out from exhaustion long, long ago.

Jorge lifted her up and laid her down on one of the beds, covering her up. She moaned a little as she woke, but Thom drew the covers up over her head for a few minutes and she fell back to sleep. Or passed out. Either way, she wasn't moving. So everything had to be alright. Right?


	5. At The Zoo!

**Sorry it took me forever to update. That Meet Noble story is like shooting myself in the foot. **

"The zoo?! What the **** is a zoo?!" Emile exclaimed angrily at Yume, who was sitting across from the Spartans at the breakfast table. People bumbled around them, pouring batter into waffle irons and chugging down coffee to get ready for another day in the emerald city of Seattle.

"A zoo," Yume sighed, "Is a place where various species of animals are kept in cages and cases so people can look at them." She explained very slowly, and in a high-pitched, cooing voice, as if she was talking to a five-year-old.

"You little b-" Emile started to stand up and lean over the table, but Jorge grabbed him by the back of the neck, dragging him back into his chair while Kat shoved a corn dog in his mouth to shut him up.

"Look at the baby with his pacifier." Thom teased him. Emile glowered, ripping the corn dog in half as a lion does its prey's head.

Jun snickered quietly, petting the old guitar case that everyone knew held Snipy, muttering, "Target practice..." Yume shot him a suspicious glance, secretly hoping there would be metal detectors at the zoo so he would be searched.

"You. Cannot. Shoot. The animals." Yume stressed each word. "can't you leave...Snipy here?"

Jun glared at her as if she were a madman. "No!" he hugged the guitar case to his chest, "Have her detained! Arrested! Take her away! She's crazy! She wants me to get rid of Snipy!"

Yume covered her face with her hands. It was like dealing with a toddler. A huge, powerful, deadly toddler that could kill her.

~##~

"So this," Carter said, looking up at the tall gates, "is a zoo?" People streamed in and out of the gates, paying for their tickets and getting stamps on their hands when they came out. For Seattle, it was a bright and hot day, the sun pounding off the black pavement and scorching them.

The Spartans all wore civilian clothes, the men wearing khaki shorts and Hawaiian print shirt, and the the girls wore sun dresses. Kat sported a huge straw hat. "Hey, Kat! Will you share your shade with me?" Emile japed.

"No way. You know how easily I burn." Kat ran her hand down her naturally tanned arm.

Thom rolled his eyes and twirled his finger by his head at Yume, who blushed. "Still embarrassed about the other night?" He leaned down and whispered in her ear, just loud enough she could hear it but not the others. She blushed deeper, crying, "No, of course not!" Louder than she had intended.

Still blushing, "Let's go get the tickets!" She marched off ahead of the group, leading them to the ticket booth. Jorge hung back with Thom, and asked him,

"What did you say to her?"

Thom shook his head, "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

~##~

"LION!" Jun pointed his sniper rifle, out of the case, at the lounging beast in its habitat. The creature merely yawned at him, bored. Spinning around, Jun came face to face with a poorly-sculpted plastic statue of a cartoon lion. "LION!" He screamed again, shoving the barrel of his sniper rifle into its opened mouth. He pulled the trigger and-

Click. Empty. Swearing, Jun shook the gun in front of him. "Why do you do this to me?!" he exclaimed, falling to his knees and hugging his beloved sniper rifle.

A distance away, Thom and Yume stood together (awkwardly). "It's a good thing you took all his rounds and hid them in the toilet." Yume said as she watched Jun's meltdown. Passerby were giving him a wide berth, the adults either glaring or looking concerned, the kids pointing and laughing.

"No kidding. I think everything and everyone here would have a hole in their head if I hadn't done it."

~##~

"You sure are tall, mister." A little girl said, looking up at Jorge. She leaned on the metal fence that separated the two of them from the moa.

Jorge grunted in consent, watching the moa graze in their habitat.

"You like these birds?" The girl chattered on. "I like them a lot. They remind me of home."

Looking down at her in interest, Jorge said, "Oh really? Where are you from?"

"Reach, but we had to move 'cos Daddy and Mommy got killed by the aliens." The girl pouted a little.

"That's where I live. Who's taking care of you now?"

"My sister."

"Your sister?" Jorge said in mock surprise, "How old is she?"

"Seventeen." The girl pulled on the fence, leaning back. "She's real nice. I'm waiting for her to bring me lunch now. It's my birthday."

"How old are you?" Jorge smiled at her.

"The girl counted on her fingers, "Six!"

The smile almost faded from Jorge's lips, but it lingered on. "Oh really?" He appeared warm to the girl, and as she innocently smiled up at him, all she could think was how nice he was.

And all Jorge could think was how much she looked like a Spartan candidate in his class that had died during augmentations.

~##~

"Those are some ugly monkeys." Kat stated, half glaring at the monkeys in the habitat, swinging from tree to tree and grooming each other.

"I can't believe that they say humans evolved from that." Carter agreed. One started to screech loudly, and he jumped.

"Poor Spartan, not gun-shy at all, but when a monkey starts to scream he's scared..." Kat teased him.

He shrugged off the comment, knowing there was affection beneath it. "What do you want to look at next?" He asked as a class of teenagers in matching shirts bumbled past them.

"They're so small." Kat commented, looking at the teens as if they were animals. "Even the guys are hardly bigger than the girls."

"Most civvies are pretty small. I guess that these are a special short breed." Carter replied, and Kat snickered.

"I guess so."

~##~

Rosenda and Emile walked through the indoors part of the zoo, looking at the different types of fish. Emile pressed a finger against the glass of a tank, where a brightly colored and spiky fish swam in circles, "What do you think this one tastes like?"

Rolling her eyes, Rosenda replied "Probably spiky and painful. It's venomous."

"Since when do you know so much about fish? What are you, an oceanographer?" Emile glared at her.

"Since I actually paid attention in biology and didn't sharpen my knife through class." Rose strode over to the shark tanks. The sharks swam around, above them in the huge tunnel they walked down. Many smaller fish of all types swam with the sharks, hiding behind anemones and sea cucumbers.

"This is kind of cool." Emile admitted.

"It's like walking in the ocean." Rosenda said.

"Yeah, except without the drowning and the getting wet." Emile said sarcastically.

Rosenda rolled her eyes, "Forbid you let something have a little romance."

~##~

"Hey, kid!" Emile thumped Yume on the back, and her vision went black for a minute. "What's for eats?"

"MREs." She replied sarcastically, but he thumped her again and yelled:

"THINK OF SOMETHING BETTER!"

"Okay, okay. I was just kidding. There's all sorts of places to eat around here, so we'll just eat in the zoo." She pointed to a clump of animal themed restaurants grouped together, including The Lion's Burger, Monkey Moe's Ice Cream, and Sharky Jark's Sea Food.

"Just get what ever you want to eat and drink, and we'll eat over there." Yume pointed to a couple picnic tables in the shade.

The group split up, Kat and Carter getting in line for sea food, Emile, Rosenda, and Jorge ordering moa burgers, Yume and Jun buying pizza, and Thom buying ice cream.

"That all you're going to eat?" Jorge asked Thom.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IS THIS ALL?!" he exclaimed, slamming his fists down on the table. "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING?! OREO, MN'MS, GUMMY BEARS, BONITO FLAKES, NORI, HOT FUDGE, MARSHMALLOWS, SOME WEIRD HEALTH FOOD POWDER-"

Jorge held his hands up, "Okay, okay."

"Stop, just stop. That list is getting more disturbing as you go on." Rosenda squirmed.

"Yeah, next your going to be saying they put crack on it." Emile snickered.

"What do you mean?" Thom looked at all of them incredulously. "They did."

**Please review, they keep me alive! **


	6. Flour Fight!

**It's taken me forever to update, and I apologize. Just give this old Jun-chan a break. **

The sky in Seattle was not pleasant. It was dark. And wet. And God knows that Emile _hates_ getting wet.

"What is with this goddamn city?!" he exclaimed, raising his fists at the sky.

Yume shrugged. "It's always like this."

"And you!" Emile turned on Jorge suddenly. "You're not keeping any of us dry!" The towering Spartan was attempting to hold two umbrellas over the whole group, he kept dancing around as if he was trying to catch raindrops.

"I'm trying, Emile." He said calmly.

Carter sighed. "Yume, where are we going from here?" Yume shrugged,

"Donno. Let me think a minute. . .Ah! Yes! Let's go to the International District!" She clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Jun narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Where? Is that a spaceport? Are you going to ship us out?" He growled.

Yume rolled her eyes, already feeling comfortable around the Spartans. "Of course not. It's a district where immigrants from countries, mainly Asia, can live as if in their own country. Sort of." She explained. "It's also home to the largest Japanese book store in Seattle!" She said enthusiastically.

Before Jun or Emile could say something else criticizing, Carter butted in. "Let's go. Sounds great. We should eat first."

Yume nodded. "Okay. I know a good place."

The unusual group followed Yume all the way to the International District—on foot. Jun kept complaining the whole way, Jorge was always dancing over everyone, trying to keep them all dry with two umbrellas, and Kat was wearing a huge sun hat for no particular reason.

Rain would puddle on Kat's sun hat and pour off it like a fountain, soaking her and anyone who passed underneath the hat (it was that big). Kids would point at her and laugh, but she was undaunted. "I don't want to get skin cancer."

Yume sighed in exasperation. "Kat, nobody gets cancer anymore. And if they do, the cure only takes fifteen minutes."

Kat narrowed her eyes at Yume, then took the hat off. "If you say so."

~##~

Yume led the group through the gate to the International District. It was huge, towering high above them. It's pillars were covered in the brass names of its builders and donors. Pigeons roosted in the top of its intricately built arch, cooing at the sight of the newcomers.

There was a whispered 'wow' from all the Spartans, and Yume grinned. She stood behind them, happy that she was succeeding in giving them a good time.

And that they hadn't killed her yet.

After they had finished gawking, Yume walked up past them and motioned for them to come. "Come on, let's go to Uwajimaya!"

None of the Spartans had any idea what 'Uwajimaya' was or whether it was legal, but they were off anyway.

She led them into a huge store, its aisles filled with food packages covered in Japanese writing. Jun gasped, "A Covenant store?! What's Uwajimaya mean in Covvie talk?! 'Die bastards'?!" He exclaimed.

Yume smirked. "It's Japanese. This is a Japanese grocery store. Go pick some stuff out to eat."

"What's this?" Kat asked, picking up a stack of two white balls, with a cartoony plastic dragon sitting on top—kagami mochi.

"That is a kagami mochi. It's a food to eat on New Years. We can get some and eat it later if you want." Yume offered.

Kat nodded, dropping it into her basket.

Before the group split up, Yume said. "I'll cook for you guys tonight. Just choose anything you like and I'll do my best to make it at the hotel. And. . .go!" She smirked.

The group split up instantly, dispersing into the huge crowd. Yume herself walked about, picking up ramune sodas off the shelves and boxes of mochi. Jun followed her around like a shadow, echoing her every move by buying the same product she was buying.

Eventually, she asked, "Why do you keep getting the same stuff as me?"

Jun glared at her. "Because if you buy it it must not be poisoned."

Yume rolled her eyes and decided to play along. "What if I don't plan to eat it myself but give it to you? Then you would die because I gave you poisoned food."

Jun's eyes widened and he put back everything he had gotten.

Emile and Thom inevitably found the alcohol aisle. Sake, mirin, and other imported alcohol filled the aisle. "Oh yeah!" They said enthusiastically,  
"Oh no!" Rosenda yelled and grabbed them by the collar and dragged them away, out of the aisle. "Knowing you two, you should not be allowed to drink around a minor!"

"I knew that little brat was holding us back." Emile growled, and Thom nodded assent. Rosenda led them to the flour aisle. "Now study the different types of flour!" She ordered.

Grumpily, the two Spartans walked up and down the aisle, trying (and failing) to read the Japanese labels. Thom put his hand on one large bag of wheat flour and slid it onto the ground, where it split in a cloud of dust. The flour coated everything and gave it a glaucous look.

Emile grinned, copying Thom and sliding a bag onto the floor. "Oops. So clumsy today."

Carter and Kat started to walk down the aisle, too engrossed in their own conversation of hacking software (that Carter only half listened to) to notice their flour-covered teammates halfway down the aisle. Kat looked up suddenly, grabbed Carter's arm, and spun them both around. "I think this aisle needs a clean-up crew, Commander." She muttered.

Thom grabbed a fifty-pound bag of flour up off the top shelf, and chucked it at Emile with little effort. Emile attempted to catch it, but the bag split, throwing flour into his face and into his lungs. Coughing, he glared at Thom, his eyes the only part of his body not white. "This. Is. War." He growled.

The vicious spartan was about to toss another huge bag of flour at the guffawing Thom when Jorge entered the scene. He held two baskets of food items in each hand. "You two ready to go? I've selected ingredients for dinner." He lifted the baskets up. Emile dropped the bag of flour in a puff of white like a kid bored with a toy.

"Sure." He shrugged like he had not been about to enjoy himself with a bag of flour. A small attendant shuffled in behind the Spartans exiting the aisle and started sweeping the flour into dusty mountains.

"Hey Jorge!" Yume waved her hand and jogged over to him. "I'm taking Jun, Carter, Rosenda, and Kat into the other part of the store, okay? I'll meet you guys-holy crap you two are a mess." Her eyes widened at the sight of Thom and Emile. Emile glowered whilst Thom grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

Yume turned on her heel and led the other four Spartans into the bookstore half of the store. The shelves were lined with manga and the Spartans were completely awed. "What are these?" Kat asked, pulling one off the shelf and flipping through it. "Picture books?"

"Manga." Yume answered. "Japanese comic books."

Kat's eyes widened. "Interesting. Kind of pricey, but might as well. . ." She grabbed a handful of the shelf, even though they were in all Japanese and she couldn't read a word of them, and headed for the check out.

Rosenda's squeal frightened Yume at first. She was terrified that maybe she was pissed at some civilian, whose life would end very soon. But when she walked to the other side of a shelf, she found Rosenda crouched down, blushing quite red and sporting a pink felt cat-hat.

Yume's eyes widened. "You like it?" She asked in a daze.

Rosenda stood up to her full height, which, combined with her immense muscles, made the vat-hat look even more ridiculous on her. But she clearly loved it. "I'll get this." She whispered and headed for the check out.

Carter sighed behind Yume. "They're still kids." He muttered, and Yume turned to him. "I started the Spartan program when I was 11, not six, like them. I remember my parents, unlike most of them." His eyes had a distant, sad look.

"I'm sorry, sir." Yume whispered.

Carter shook his head. "Don't be." Jorge and the others joined him. "Let's just go to the hotel. We all look forward to you cooking for us tonight."

With a feeling of dread in her stomach, Yume lead the Spartans home for what felt like the last time.


	7. Missing Noble!

**Sorry for the late update. I'm trying to be more regular. School's been keepin' me busy. But there's a twist in this chapter, so keep reading! ;)**

Yume sighed, her hands on her hips. All the ingredients Noble had bought were laid out in front of her.

"Looks like miso, tonkatsu, and rice." She muttered, starting to steam the rice and mix the miso powder. They were back at the hotel, and all the Spartans were relaxing while she prepared dinner.

"Yume?" Jorge wandered into the small kitchen area attached to the living room.

"Yeah?" She asked distractedly, reading the instructions on the miso package.

"Thank you. You've been a wonderful guide."

She shrugged. "It's what I do."

Emile walked in. "Why not make it a job?" He asked, sucking on a bubble tea. A piece of tapioca got stuck in the straw, he cussed, then sucked on it so hard it rocketed back into his throat, choking him.

"CPR! I need CPR!" He exclaimed.

Yume rolled her eyes. "If you can talk, you can breathe. Besides, I don't want to get close enough to you to perform CPR-"

"How dare you-" Emile was about to lunge at her when Kat walked in and grabbed his collar.

"Don't even think about laying your hands on her." She growled, and Emile stalked off, glowering and sucking on his drink.

Rolling her eyes, Yume returned to her cooking, "You know, I feel kind of odd around you guys." She said offhandedly.

"How so?" Kat asked, leaning on the counter.

"You're all Spartans, and I'm just a civilian kid. . .my parents were killed by Covenant." She said the last part suddenly, like she was getting something heavy off her chest.

Jorge walked up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Why should you be?" Yume asked, then sighed. "They weren't even enlisted. They were on a business trip and the planet was glassed. . ." She trailed off. Yume had stayed home with her grandparents while her parents were gone. She remembered watching the news broadcasts of the planet burning in the sky.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Jorge asked.

Yume shook her head. "No. I'm fine." She checked the rice and started cooking the meat for tonkatsu. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Kat shook her head, "You don't need to be." She sighed, pulling out her tablet and typing some things into it. She wandered into the other room, absorbed in the technology.

"She do that a lot?" Yume asked. Kat had been engaging one second and gone the next.

Jorge nodded. "Yeah. She does that when something catches her eye. Her powers of concentration are amazing."

~##~  
After a while, dinner was finished. It laid out on the dining room table like a picture from a magazine, and all the Spartans were eager to dig in.

Emile and Thom took half of everything for themselves, so everyone else was forced to make do with the remainders.

"Boys," Kat rolled her eyes playfully, "Always hungry."

"What do you want?" Thom asked. "We're growing boys."

"You did all your growing when you were fourteen, in augmentation. Yume here, however, still has a few years before everything fills out, mainly the chest-" Rosenda said, looking at Emile.

"Shut up!" Yume yelled. "Who asked you anyway?!"

"No one," Emile muttered with his mouth fill of rice. "That's why we answered."

The Spartans were all enjoying an ordinary meal, together at a table, and Yume was enjoying the familiar feeling of having family, whether it was mutual or not didn't matter. She imagined it was.

~##~

Everyone was too full to move, they sprawled across the beds in the boys' room, half watching TV but mostly sleeping with their eyes open. Yume sat out on the small balcony, leaning her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. She looked out into the night, smiling to herself.

The sliding glass door behind her swished open quietly, and Jorge stepped out through. Yume worried he would max out the weight limit of the balcony.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing to the only other chair next to her. She nodded, and went back to gazing at the glimmering city scape.

"It's beautiful." Jorge offered, but it wasn't near as beautiful as Reach to him.

"It is. I'm afraid to lose it. . .I can see it, the Covenant glassing this place. This is such an old, old city. . .losing it would be like losing all of my history."

Jorge nodded, "I know how you feel. Seattle has quite a history, it's easy to get lost in this place."

"What do you mean?"

"It lures you in, doesn't it? That's why you're here. It lures you in and traps you because there is so much to discover."

Yume turned to him, her eyes shining. "That's it. I remember being a kid, my parents would take me to this place. . .it has always been special to me, there's always some new food I want to try, or a new shop that opens up. . ."

Jorge nodded. "I know. You belong here. And I can promise you that I will fight to the death to protect Earth for you."

"Except it wouldn't be for me." Yume muttered. "Everyone else here is more important than me. I'm insignificant."

Jorge shook his head. "You aren't insignificant, Yume. Nobody is. Even if you were the only person standing on this planet, I'd give my life to protect it."

Looking up at the smog-filled sky, Yume whispered. "Thank you." While tears streamed down her face. She was relieved. Seattle was here to stay, after all.

After all, Jorge could never die, could he? He was to strong, much too powerful. No one could kill him.

~##~

The next morning Yume slept in late. She awoke in a panic at eleven thirty. "I thought I set the alarm for eight!" She exclaimed. "Someone turned it off. . ."

She trailed off as she read the note left on the table.

_Yume, _

_ We have gone. Hope to see you later. _

_ Noble. _

Where had the Spartans gone?

**Review please! I need the motivation. ;)**


	8. Little Black Dress!

**This chapter has a some for the ladies, some for the men, and some for everybody. I'm back from my school-inflicted hiatus, guys and gals! enjoy the return of Spartan Vacation: Seattle!**

Carter led the Spartans down the street, trying to make sense of the many twisting streets on the map he held. "Wish we had Yume." He muttered.

Kat nodded. "We need our navigator."

Emile rolled his eyes. "You're all such babies. Get over her."

Shivering, Jun rubbed his arms. "Why do we have to do this for her anyway?" He asked, looking around to see if anyone was too close to him.

"Because she deserves it." Jorge nudged him. "She's helped us a lot."

"How so?" Emile scoffed. "She's just a stupid kid."

Carter was looking at the map upside down to see if it made more sense that way.

All the other Spartans shared a look.

"We need Yume."

~##~

"What kind of name is 'Yume', anyway?" Emile leaned back in his seat. They had stopped when they realized their commander was hopeless as a navigator in a small, pricey cafe, Belle Epicurean. They ordered a plate of macaroons each, astonishing the waitress. One of the pastel-colored cookies cost almost three dollars each.

Kat whipped out her tablet, looking it up. "A Japanese name, meaning 'dream'."

"Sounds about right. She's Emile's dream girl." Thom elbowed Emile, who growled at him.

"Don't start fighting boys." Kat scolded. She then turned to Carter with the expression of a mother's scorn. "We can't take them anywhere."

Carter just shrugged her off. "So," He started. "What should we do for her?"

"Why do we have to thank her anyway?" Jun whined. "Haven't we paid for all her food and let her stay with us?"

"Yeah." Emile chimed in. "I've been wanting to cut her up with my kukri for a while now. . .she should thank me for holding back."

Rolling her eyes, Kat turned her attention to Jorge. "You talked with her Jorge, didn't you? What would she like?"

Jorge stroked his brown beard. "Why not take her to the Space Needle?" He suggested. It was the icon of Seattle, a bit ironic, really. In its day it had been one of the tallest buildings, a thing to marvel at. Now it was a sort of joke compared to the space elevators, one of which stood in the city, that towered over it and everything else.

Running her hand through her curly brown hair, Rosenda agreed. "This is quite the undertaking."

"She'd better appreciate it." Emile grunted.

~##~

Yume sat on the edge of the bed, holding the note in her hand. Had she done something wrong? Had she angered the Spartans in some way? But after all, this whole time she'd tried to tell herself that she was a civilian, and they were soldiers, trained to fight from the age of six. She had nothing in common with them.

And as for them leaving. . .it only made sense that they take their leave without saying goodbye. Better to just go, no questions and no complications. Anyway, she was alone again.

~##~

"Why do we need suits?" Jun whined. "How am I supposed to hide Snipey when there's fabric squeezing my heart out?"

"Why do we have to go back here?" Emile slouched, hands in his pockets.

Carter smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Because," he sighed, "We need to practice."

"For what?!" Thom exclaimed, "For when Rosenda and Emile get married?!" He threw his hands in the air.

Rosenda and Emile both turned to him and gave him identical glares, "For the last time." They growled simultaneously, "We. Are. _Not._ Getting. MARRIED!"

Thom shrugged. "Whatever you say. You guys already act like an old married couple."

Rosenda snorted, "Oh, we do not!"

Punching Thom in the arm, Emile growled in his ear, "Careful. You might find tacks in your dress shoes. Or a kukri."

"That didn't even make sense!" Thom exclaimed.

Noble pushed through the doors and into Macy's, and immediately the air seemed to suffocate them.

"Can't believe I'm back in this place." Thom groaned.

"Men," Carter turned to the group suddenly, "Follow me to the thirteenth floor. Our mission is to acquire 'tuxedos'. Ladies," He turned to Kat and Rosenda, "Do what women do."

Kat nodded and saluted Carter, "Yes, sir!" The two women walked off to the section of dresses.

The men of Noble found their way to the part of the store with tuxes and work suits, browsing the aisles with dedication. . .except Thom, who just walked along the rows of dress coats, running his hands on the shoulders.

One by one, each of the men disappeared into the dressing room with armfuls of suits, ties, and related items, much overdoing the six item limit.

First to emerge was Jorge, his tux too small to button all the way up, the shirt and coat made a V where the edges slowly came apart, unable to reach each other.

"Sir," Jorge said uncomfortable, straightening his bow tie that was choking his neck, "I think this one's a bit on the small side."

Carter peeked his head out, frowning, "Yeah. Try the next size up. Or ten."

"This is the largest size."

Emile emerged in a suit that looked perfect on him—he looked like the representative of an important company. "Just leave that one on. The ladies love that look." He knotted his tie just as Jun and Thom came out as well.

Everyone gaped at Emile. "Where did you learn to tie a tie?" Thom asked. Then he smirked, "You're not going soft on us, are you? Learning how to look good?"

Emile's expression dropped. "I used the same knot to hang Covvies from trees." He cleared his throat and disappeared within a dressing room, ripping the suit off.

Shoulder's sagging, Jorge went back into his room and tried to get his shirts off, but the buttons were pulled so tightly they wouldn't come undone. With a pop, they spilled over the floor, rolling out from the gap under the door. Whistling, Jorge hung the shirt and jacket back on their hangers and put them back on the rack.

"I think I'll just go in uniform." He grunted. At these words, the other Spartans popped their heads out of the dressing rooms.

"Us too!"

~##~

"I don't know, Kat." Rosenda said, hands on her hips as she looked in the mirror. The little black dress she had on ended mid-thigh, making her rather uncomfortable. "It's so small." She rubbed her bare shoulders.

Kat smirked, her arms crossed, "But it looks good on you, Rosy." She said, surveying Rosenda from behind. She bore a similar dress, but with a white band just across the chest, accentuating her bust.

"Easy for you to say, Kat. You've got a perfect tan." She glanced at the other woman somewhat enviously. Then she sighed, "What are we doing? Who even cares?"

Kat shrugged, "It's just for a little while. Besides, you really look nice."

"Well," Rosenda slipped on a pair of black heels she had picked out earlier, "Let's go check on the boys." She walked towards the men's dressing room with Kat at her side, without changing from the little black dresses.

~##~

As soon as Kat and Rosenda rounded the corner and bumped into the men, a security guard walked right into Emile's back. Emile turned to see what bug had hit him, and froze as soon as he recognized him,

"You!" The security man bellowed, "You're the one that stole the manikin!"

"Time to split!" Carter exclaimed, motioning for Noble to follow him. Kat and Rosenda slipped off their heels and carried them in their hands, doing their best to run in the skin tight dresses.

"Lucky men," Rosenda muttered enviously, "Why can't we wear our normal clothes?"

"We still have to pay!" Kat informed them.

Thom looked over his shoulder at her, and the security guard squad now in pursuit of them. "Pay 'em back later, Kat. We gotta go."

"You're bailing me out if I get arrested." Kat muttered, pushing the glass doors open and escaping with the rest of Noble into the city streets.

**Hope you enjoyed, ladies and gentlemen. Please review.**


	9. Space Needle!

**Sorry it's so late! . I worked really hard on this chapter! It's based in. . .the Space Needle! Enjoy, review, and shower me in praise!**

The elevator slid up the shaft, the seven Spartans shoved in with Yume sandwiched between them, and not an inch of breathing space for anyone. Their escort's face was smashed brutally against the door, but the attention awkwardly devoted to it before hand was shifted as the shaft opened up.

Sprawling out around them, the city of Seattle mingled its buildings and trees and waters together in a magnificent array of blue, grey, and green. Any attempts at a neat grid were scrapped as the hills the city was built on rolled without interruption towards the sea.

As usual, rain pummeled the glass windows flanking the sides of the elevator door, and fulgurous clouds rumbled above their heads.

"Is it really safe for us to be going up here in a thunder storm?" Thom joked, gesturing to the sky as lightning ripped across it.

Rosenda rolled her eyes. "Of course," she muttered, trying to pull down the hem of her dress.

Edging up next to Carter, Jun whispered, "You have the charges, right? So when do we blow this joint-"

"Jun!" Yume exclaimed. "This is NOT a Covenant Spire!" The escort let a small groan escape his lips.

The group could've sworn they heard a crack as Emile curled his fingers around the man's neck.

"Got a problem, friend?" He growled in the escort's ear.

"Nnnoo sir." The man whimpered. Why did he always have to get the lunatics? And hadn't these been the people he saw on the news, storming out of Macy's?

With a swish, the elevator door slid open and the escort tumbled out, landing in an unconscious heap. Another waiter, this time a young woman with silvery blond hair, instructed them to follow her. They climbed a flight of spiraling stairs, and emerged in a small, circular reception area. A woman stood at a tall, square desk, supplied them with their table number. The blond woman motioned for them to follow her once again.

The dining layer of the Space Needle was made of three rings: The smallest, inner circle was walled off, and contained stairs, a reception area, and the kitchen. Next, the middle ring, which turned in unison with the largest outer ring, provided walking area for waiters. The outer ring was separated from the rest with thin, half walls of wood and frosted glass. Tables were crowded together in the outer ring, which sat at the edge of the Space Needle. Huge, convex windows stretched from the ceiling down to the table tops, offering a full view of Seattle as the restaurant turned.

In its entirety, the experience was rather dizzying for the Spartans. Stepping onto the slowly rotating outer ring, Noble followed the waitress and sat at the table directed to them, left alone with their menus and crystal clear glasses of water.

Awkwardly, Yume traced the patterns on the carpet with her eyes, rubbing the lace table cloth between her thumb and forefinger before being ripped out of her trance by Kat,

"How long does it take to make a rotation?" Kat asked politely, although she longed to whip out her data pad and discover a thousand other tiny factoids as she answered one question.

"About an hour." Yume replied, glad the silence was finally broken.

Turning his ear to them, Jun perked up, "Is that when the bomb goes off?"

"No." Yume fumed. "An hour is how long it takes to male a full rotation." Stroking his chin, Jun returned to looking for Banshees flying at their level.

"At least he didn't bring his sniper rifle." Yume said with a smile that dissipated as Jorge paled.

"Or rather, at least its dressed for the occasion." Kat muttered. Yume sucked in her breath. There, underneath the window, was Snipey. Around the barrel a black bow tie was fastened.

"Why did you bring that? Why?" Yume asked.

Delivering the death glare with practice ease, Jun grunted, "Snipey is a person, too."

"And," Emile interjected, "I have someone to keep him company." He clunked his kukri down on the table. "That's my girl." He patter it affectionately.

"Hey! Snipey's the female in this relationship!" Jun snapped.

"Then why the hell is it wearing a bow tie?!" Emile countered. "Kukri has to be the girl in the ship, or else I can't snuggle her without feeling weird."

"How about a compromise?" Jun suggested.

"What's the deal?"

"They're BOTH girls." Jun exclaimed with much enthusiasm, "That way we can both cuddle them at night without either of us being gay and weirding the rest of the team out."

At this point, Thom leaned in, "I gotta admit, Carter is pretty goddamn sexy." The latter turned a brilliant shade of crimson and barked,

"Back in your seat, soldier!"

Emile and Jun sealed the bubble of privacy once more as they leaned in and discussed the gender and orientation of their respective items. To an outsider, they appeared to be having an intimate conversation.

"If they're both girls, then that would make them bi."

"Yeah. . ."

"But wait, if we love them, and they love each other, isn't that. . .?"

"Some weird love-square or something?"

Horrified, Emile sat back in his seat and yelled, "I do not have a thing for you!"

The restaurant fell silent. All eyes turned to the two Spartans, who were staring at each other in revulsion. The eyes of their fellow waiters and diners bored into their skulls. Trying to detract attention from himself, Jun said uneasily,

"But we can still be friends. . .?"

Finally, Carter grabbed both their weapons, "What kind of sick roleplay is this? These are confiscated till we get back to the hotel."

Once chatter in the restaurant resumed, Yume turned to Kat. "Was Carter a principle in a past life?"

~##~

When the waiter finally upped the nerve to bring them their meal, Noble was starving. Rich scents wafted up from their dishes taunting their noses with promises of decadent tastes. And yet, Carter held them back one last moment,

"Today, I would like to thank Yume for all her help." He stood, "Truly, we would not be able to enjoy ourselves here without you." He faced her squarely and saluted her.

For the longest time, Yume was speechless. Finally, she manages a "Thank you, sir."

Emile huffed and turned to his food, as did the others as Carter returned to his seat. "What is this?" He picked at his crab cakes. While he and Jun were fighting, the rest of the team ordered for them.

Thirty minutes later, Thom leaned back in his seat, "This was WAY better than MREs." He mumbled.

"Dessert?" A waitress offered, holding dessert menus at arms length to them.

Emile snatched them away, and barked out the first thing on the list, "Eight Lunar Orbiters!" He yelled, handing all the menus back. The waitress scampered away.

"What, we don't getta look?" Thom grumbled angrily.

"Actually," Yume interjected, "You'll be glad he ordered for you." But she wondered about the less stable of the Spartans' (Jun's) reactions.

"We've nearly made a full rotation." Rosenda commented, gazing down at the Pacific Science center below.

"Yep," Kat agreed, looking out the window.

Several waiters approached the Spartans' table, carrying dishes pouring dry ice fog, which sunk to the ground in tendrils. As they set them out on the table, everyone smiled.

But no one smiled as large as Jun. "Finally. The bombs."

**This will be continued in the next chapter, but Spartan Vacation will be on hiatus for a while. I plan on another trip to Seattle this summer, so I'll come home with all sorts of great chapters for the Spartans' adventures in the Emerald City! **

**Until then, my focus will rest upon the Meet Noble story. Please be patient when awaiting your chapter. Thank you all! Review, review, review! :D**


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